Scottish Power hikes prices by 7.8% – Switched On response

Campaigners have responded with anger to Scottish Power’s price hike announced today and closely following similar moves by NPower and EDF.[1]

Emma Hughes from Switched On campaign group said

“The Big Six are announcing price hikes one after another, while ripping off households to the tune of £1.7bn a year. Tens of thousands of UK households had to make a choice between heating and eating this winter because of the Big Six’s reckless profiteering. We need genuine, democratic alternatives to these rip-off merchants. Councils can set up local public energy companies that put affordable bills before profit. Ofgem and the government must support this, as energy is a basic need, not a luxury.”

Switched On (http://switchedonlondon.org.uk/) is a movement for publicly controlled energy that is affordable, green and democratic.

From Nottingham to Bristol, cities across Britain are leaving the Big Six behind by setting up their own, non-profit energy companies that cuts bills and polluting carbon emissions. In Scotland, social housing providers set up Our Power, a utility company meant to “work better for the residents and communities they serve”. London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Energy for Londoners programme, expected to be launched later this spring,[2] could offer an affordable democratic utility option to households in the capital.